Two Time Polka: DVD, videos, CD, gigs

Ray Barron of Two Time Polka reports:

Most of you will know by now that our website has been down since early December. This has been out of our control, but the good news is that we are back up and running. We have some videos up on the site for your viewing pleasure! Three songs in all, which were recorded at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, Arlington Heights, Chicago, in the summer of 2005. The videos are taken from a DVD which has just been released in the US, called One night, produced by our good friend Mike Considine, and also features Arranmore, Jennie Avila, and Aoife Clancy. For more information on the DVD, Mike can be contacted directly at this address. We hope to put these songs and the rest of our performances from the Chicago gig, along with some footage of our trips to Italy and Belgium in 2005, on a DVD later on this year.

On the recording front you will all be glad to hear that we started a new CD in early January and things are progressing nicely. Currently we are negotiating with several festivals, and to date we are confirmed for the Kilkenny Rhythm & Roots (May), the Bandon Music Festival and Dublin Docklands Festival (June), the Caherciveen Celtic Music Festival (August) and the Cork Folk Festival (September).

St Patrick's weekend sees us playing at the following venues:
Saturday afternoon, 17 March (St Patrick's Day): The Centenary Stores, Charlotte St., Wexford. 1.00-3.00 p.m. Adm. free. Tel. 053 24424
Saturday night, 17 March: Holohan's Bar, The Quays, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Kickoff 10.00 p.m. Adm. E10. Tel. 085 7871220.
Sunday 18 March: John O'Sullivans Bar, Douglas West, Cork. (Directions: No. 6 bus from South Mall: just past Tesco shopping centre on the South Douglas Rd.) Kickoff 10.00 p.m. Adm. free. Tel. 021 4891416

Easter Monday, 9 April: Ceol on the Coast, the Bayview Bar, Kilcrohane, Co. Cork. 5.00-7.00 p.m. Adm. free. Tel. 027 67981.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon,
Regards,
Ray and TTP

P.S. If you have any problems viewing the videos from our site, here are the direct links that will enable you to view them from YouTube.

The Games People Play
Disco et Fais Do Do
Get Up John

New bluegrass festival in Suffolk, 27-9 April

In addition to the established bluegrass sessions, concerts, and other events in Suffolk, Chris Hockley and Ralph Keeble have organised the county's first full-length bluegrass festival. The Orwell Bluegrass Festival will run from 7.30 p.m. on Friday 27 April to 12.30 p.m. on Sunday 29 April at the Orwell Crossing Lorry Park at Nacton, near Ipswich - a modern purpose-built complex in its own grounds, adjoining the A14 eastbound carriageway. It is open-plan in design, with a central glass-covered atrium, patio-style furnishings, a 24-hour restaurant, lounge area, bar, toilet and shower facilities, and space for caravans and camping.

Confirmed to appear during the weekend are a galaxy of UK bands: Longway (Scotland), the Biggin Hillbillies, Buffalo, Buffalo Smoke, Home Territory, the New Essex Bluegrass Band, Roots and Galoots, and more. It is hoped that the BBMA will hold its AGM during the weekend. Ticket prices: £8 for the Friday evening concert; £10 for the Saturday evening concert; £22 for the whole weekend (includes camping/caravan). A £40 weekend ticket will be available to cover two adults and their children.

Chris Hockley adds that visitors from Ireland will be very welcome: the venue is only 40 minutes from Stansted airport, and there are plenty of B&Bs in the area.

Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike in UK, July

Valerie Smith and her band Liberty Pike will be on tour in the UK from 16 July to 30 July inclusive. Details are still being finalised; the tour will include a performance on 28 July at the The South Will Rise Again Festival in Poole, Dorset, England. As when they toured Ireland two years ago, the band features the acclaimed songwriter/singer/fiddler Becky Buller.

Orrin Star - 30 years on the road

Good to hear news from Orrin Star, master picker (guitar, mandolin, banjo), singer, and entertainer, who is celebrating thirty years as a full-time musician. As anyone knows who saw and heard Orrin during his brief tours in Ireland a few years ago, he's not only a powerful but a very musical player. This is well shown in three video clips on YouTube: a six-minute excerpt from his Flatpicking primer DVD, in which he demonstrates 'Whisky before breakfast', and two shorter clips in which he and John Seebach play 'Alberta', 'Billy in the low ground', and the Canadian tune 'Pointe au Pic'.

Orrin's refurbished website has plenty of good things - learn, for instance, how to put on a house concert, or why it's a good idea to keep a hair dryer near the bed. Look over his instruments; think about such observations as 'The mandolin community is perhaps the most coherent of all the instrument communities at this point in time, thanks largely to the extraordinary Mandolin Cafe website'; and drop him an e-mail via this link.

Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival 2007: lineup news

The programme for the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival on 13-16 September 2007 at Longford includes (on the bluegrass and related Americana side) the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Guy Clark, Tim O'Brien, Dirk Powell, the Carter Brothers Band, Niall Toner Band, Rough Deal String Band, Jeff & Vida, and Ranch House Favorites.

The Irish music side of the programme includes Four Men & A Dog, Dervish, Gerry O'Connor, Arty McGlynn, Unwanted (Cathy Jordan, Rick Epping, Seamie O'Dowd), Niamh Parsons. Other artists are TBC. For further details see the festival website or contact the organisers by e-mail.

Baltimore Fiddle Fair, 10-13 May

Thanks to Declan McCarthy for choosing two distinguished American music acts to open and close this year's Baltimore Fiddle Fair, to be held in Baltimore, west Co. Cork, from Thursday 10 May to Sunday 13 May. The main venue is the Baltimore Harbour Hotel, where Bruce Molsky, old-time fiddler par excellence, banjo- and guitar-player, etc., etc., will be playing in concert on Thursday evening, and Crooked Still will play in the Sunday evening concert in the last show of a brief European tour. This is the only opportunity to see Crooked Still in Ireland on this trip.

For further details, see the Fiddle Fair's handsome website.

Foghorn String Band to visit Ireland?

The Foghorn String Band, from Portland, Oregon, will be touring in Denmark and Sweden in late March and early April. The tour details, so far as they are known at present, are on the European Bluegrass Blog. It is rumoured that the band, who are well known here, may be visiting Ireland afterwards. Full details will be posted here as soon as we get them.

15th Annual London Fiddle Convention

The 15th Annual London Fiddle Convention takes place on Sunday 25 February at Cecil Sharp House (2 Regents Park Road, London NW1 7AY).

Workshops 2.00 p.m, 4.00 p.m.
Open session in the bar, 5.30 p.m.
Fiddle competition, 6.00 p.m. - the winner to have a slot in the concert.
Evening concert, 8.00 p.m. - includes American bluegrass, English and Irish, blues, gypsy, and jazz, Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, Indian music, and more.

Day pass (all events) £22/£17. £10/£7 for one workshop, £16/12 for two workshops. Concert £10/£7.

Information: +44 (0)20 8930 8467 or +44 (0)20 8340 7760

Mandolin lessons wanted

Conor Brennan of Westport, Co. Mayo, reports:

I have a friend in the Mullingar [Co. Westmeath] area who is interested in bluegrass & country style mandolin lessons. Do you know anyone who could help with this ?

Contact Conor at this link.

New Niall Toner Band CD on the way

The Niall Toner Band are busy working on their third album, which once again will be an all-original project featuring new tunes and songs. Launch date will be midsummer 2007, and the band will be touring to support the release.

The original Bluegrass Blog also mentions that Niall's 'Roots Freeway' show - every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. (GMT/WET) on RTE Radio One, with a mix of bluegrass, old time, traditional country, and blues - is also available online via live streaming from the Radio One web site.

Bands, artists, or independent labels: Niall is eager to receive promo copies of your new releases for airplay. Send them to him at Roots Freeway, RTE Radio One, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

New old-time session in Cork

The very lively scene in the Cork area has given rise to a new session on Thursday nights at Charlie's Bar, Union Quay, Cork city, with old-time songs and tunes from the Carter Family, Charlie Poole, etc., delivered by Chris Twomey (autoharp, guitar), and Mick Murphy (guitar, mandolin). There's no cover charge, and a good listening crowd.

Folk and bluegrass festival at Westport, 29 June-1 July

Uri Kohen, manager of the Electric Cave Production, announces that on the last weekend of June (Friday 29 June-Sunday 1 July) the first Westport folk and bluegrass festival will be held at Westport, Co. Mayo, with the Lee Valley String Band, Ireland's senior old-time/bluegrass group, headlining the event.

If you are interested in assisting or otherwise being part of the festival, contact Uri by e-mail or by phone: 087 7570958.

Norwegian band at the Cobblestone - and elsewhere

Thanks to Enda Donnelly for the news that Ila Auto from Oslo, Norway, are booked to play at the Cobblestone, Smithfield, Dublin, on Wednesday 21 February. The band consists of Matias Hilmar Iversen (vocals, guitar), Stein Are Fevang (vocals, dobro), Kristoffer Iversen (bass, vocals), Kay Arne Sulutvedt (banjo, vocals), Kai Henrik Ryen (mandolin, snaredrum), with occasional help from Cecilie Heramb (fiddle), Kai Cristoffersen and Uy (Ulrik Yngvar) (drums, skrekkspell (accordion)).

Hear the band on their MySpace site. They're in Ireland from 16 to 22 February, and may even drop in at the Rosie O'Grady's session in Harold's Cross on Friday 16 February...

Being part of EWOB 2007

A message from Rienk Janssen, coordinator of the European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) for the EBMA:

As you may know, the EBMA coordinates the annual European World of Bluegrass month, in 2007 for the tenth time. This is a series of concerts and festivals all over Europe, hanging loosely together under the EWOB umbrella. Being part of the EWOB does not bring any obligations - we just help each other in getting a bit more publicity. We publish the events in the EWOB Guide 2007 and on our websites, and we hope the participating events will use the EWOB logo (above) in their own publicity.

May is Bluegrass Month, and almost all EWOB-related events are in that month, but every now and then we include a few spilling over into April or June. We also have a special offer for festivals that take part for the first time. They will get a ¼ page ad for free (black/white) in the EWOB Guide. We would need all information by 1 March.

Wishing you success,
Kind regards,
Rienk Janssen

Please note that any bluegrass-related event - a festival, concert, session, broadcast - can be a part of EWOB. For advertising rates and any other details, e-mail Rienk here.

Ricky Skaggs at Midlands Music Festival?

13 February

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder are now down for a further date in Europe - on 3 August at Indigo, in London (TBA).

12 February

Thanks to Darach McGrath for the news that the Blind Boys of Alabama are also scheduled on their website for the Midlands. As Darach says, 'Not exactly bluegrass... but great none the less'.

9 February

Thanks to Roger Ryan for the news that Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder are scheduled on their website to perform at the Midlands Music Festival on 28 July, on the second day of a four-day European tour. On 27 July they are playing in Prague, on 29 July at the Cambridge Folk Festival, and on 31 July in Glasgow. NB: at present the Prague, Mullingar, and Glasgow dates are marked TBA on the site.

Thanks to Roger also for the following (edited) press release:

The Midlands Music Festival returns this year on Saturday 28 July/ Sunday 29 July 2007. Tickets and camping for the festival went on sale Saturday 9 December, at 9.00 a.m.

Considered one of the best contemporary music festivals last summer, Midlands was the first of its kind in Europe with a stellar line up of some of the world's country greats including Emmylou Harris, Glen Campbell, Dwight Yoakam, and Kenny Rogers. This year's festival promises to be even better with an even more diverse mix of music and a brand new location, equally as stunning but even more central than last year.

Only 50 minutes from Dublin, Belvedere House is set on a 160-acre estate, of magnificent parkland, lakeshore walks, and woodlands, located on the outskirts of Mullingar town, Co. Westmeath, and is a perfect setting for this year's festival, with its instant accessibility, numerous hotels and B&Bs on its doorstep, and a layout that will enable organisers to locate the camping site even closer to the stages.

The festival will cater for all tastes and all ages, keeping the country element for which it's famous, but also extending the musical reach. There will be the usual international country greats, both mainstream and more diverse; in addition the promoters will introduce what's best in traditional, contemporary, and World Music.

Under 12s free. Tickets, subject to licence, will be available at usual outlets such as Ticketmaster. Credit card hotline 0818719300; or for UK, 08702434455.

Personalities magazine

Hugh O'Brien announces that the entertainment magazine Personalities will be relaunched on 2 April. It will include news, pictures, etc. from country music artists in Ireland and Nashville, and also info and pictures from the world of sport, TV, radio and films for a broader appeal. Country music, and in particular Irish country, will feature strongly throughout. The first three issues will have a free CD featuring some of Ireland's top country stars. These CDs will also be sent to all local radio stations throughout Ireland.

The magazine will appear monthly with 44 full colour A4 pages on glossy 115 gram paper, at a selling price of €4.95, with a print run of 5,000 and upwards. It will be distributed by Eason & Son; WSN, Belfast; Newspread, Dublin; and (where available) newsagents throughout Ireland and direct from selling agents in all dancing venues throughout Ireland (32 counties). Radio & TV copies will be sent to leading presenters in all radio throughout Ireland as well as to TV producers, researchers, and directors in BBC, RTE, TG4, ITV, and Channel 6.

Contributors include Roger Ryan, John Campbell, Larry McLoughlin, Mel Curtis, Tom Walsh, and Hugh O'Brien. Material, including pictures (through e-mail please), also items for competitions, will be welcome from anyone. Please use the following e-mail addresses: Roger Ryan and Image Promotions.

Launches will be held on 2 April at the Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath; 3 April at the Clonmel Park Hotel, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. in association with TIPP FM Radio; 4 April at the Silver Tassy, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. For further details, including advertising rates, contact Personalities Entertainment Magazine, 36 Silverheights Avenue, Silversprings, Cork; 'phone 021 4504841; 021 4504195; 087 6859895; e-mail as above.

Dunmore East benefit events planned

Mick Daly, organiser of the annual Guinness International Bluegrass Festival at Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, sends the following news on events planned in aid of the Dunmore East Trawler Tragedy Appeal.

1. The fishermen of Kilkeel in County Down are looking for a local band to volunteer for their benefit evening.

2. A band is needed to support the Clancys in the Woodlands Hotel in Waterford.

Dates to be forwarded as soon as we have them.

Contact Mick by e-mail. Further details will also be posted on the BIB at the earliest possible date. Thanks to Tony Curran for pointing out that the sympathy of the Kilkeel fishing community for Dunmore East is all the stronger because of its own losses in the past.

Uncle Earl news

The all-girl neo-old-time band Uncle Earl recently completed a tour of the UK. Their new CD Waterloo, Tennessee is now available to pre-order through their website for shipping before the release date of 13 March. Preview tracks can be sampled at their MySpace site.

Photos on the Uncle Earl website include an album taken during the September 2006 Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in Longford, many of which show the Dutch honky-tonk/Western swing band Ranch House Favourites; one shows the Lee Valley String Band's Mick Daly. There are also many photos taken in 2006 (and at earlier festivals) on the Johnny Keenan festival website.

Gareth Pearson on guitar

Nigel Martyn reports:

Not strictly bluegrasss, but the young Welshman Gareth Pearson is on tour at the minute, playing incredible guitar in the style of Jerry Reed, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, and of course his mentor Tommy Emmanuel.

I saw his full show for the first time in Colfers, Carrig-on-Bannow last night, and I have to say he really is an incredible talent for an 18-year-old who has just been playing guitar for 4 years.

Check out his video here and his website. Full tour dates here.

Talking feet

FOAOTMAD reports that anyone who has broadband internet access and likes flatfoot / buckdance / clogging can view Talking feet, a documentary film made by Mike Seeger in 1987, via this link.

In a total viewing time of nearly one and a half hours, it shows a wide range of dancers and their individual styles. You'll also find at the site a good deal of useful material and links to other dance videos, including footage of the unique Ira Bernstein.